MTA to hike subway and bus fares to $2.90 before Labor Day
Nickel and dime!
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to increase the cost of swiping or tapping into the Big Apple’s subways and buses by 15 cents, hiking the price of a ride from $2.75 to $2.90 by Labor Day, officials said Monday.
The hike is part of a proposed package of 3 to 5 percent increases in transit fares and railroad ticket prices, plus a 6 to 7 percent hike in bridge and tunnel tolls.
Officials say the package will raise approximately $300 million annually for the agency — slightly less than half of the $690 million it lost to fare-beating last year.
“Fare evasion has increased $500 million, according to the MTA, since pre-pandemic,” said Andrew Rein, the executive director of the Citizens Budget Commission. “When you look at their structural budget gap, 20 percent of it is the increase in fare evasion.”
“There’s no question that they have to raise fares — and crack down on fare evasion,” he added.
The MTA plans to raise the cost from $2.75 to $2.90. Christopher Sadowski
The price hikes will likely take effect before Labor Day. Christopher Sadowski
The MTA is planning to hold public hearings over the proposal in June and a vote on the final proposal is slated for July.
Officials said that the increases would likely take effect before Labor Day.
“We saw what happens when you have no money coming into the system and it leads to the ‘Summer of Hell’,” said Lisa Daglian, the executive director of the MTA’s Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee. “We see longer waits, less reliability, and that’s exactly the opposite of what we want to see happen.”
Under the proposal, the price of a seven-day MetroCard would increase 3 percent, from $33 to $34.
Meanwhile, the cost of a monthly MetroCard will climb 4 percent from $127 to $132.
The proposed hikes will hit Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and the city’s express bus network too, officials told the MTA’s Board of Directors financial oversight committee.
The fares for the express bus favorited by commuters in neighborhoods with limited subway access would jump by a quarter from $6.75 to $7, while the cost of a seven-day pass would increase from $62 to $64.
Railroad riders would see the cost of a monthly or weekly pass increase by 4.3 percent on average, though the MTA will still cap the price on the most expensive 30-day tickets at $500.
The plan sketched by officials would also create a new $7 flat-rate ticket for peak-hour trips on both railroads in the city zone, while maintaining the $5 ticket for off-peak city zone trips.
Residents of Far Rockaway are also set to get cheaper rides into the city via a new LIRR discount, though the details have yet to be finalized.
Source: New York Post